PROTESTANT NONCONFORMITY.

George
Fox and Alexander Parker preached at the house of
Richard Bonwick in Ifield in 1655, as a result of
which the first weekly Quaker meeting in Sussex was
formed; (fn. 1) Fox was to visit Ifield again in 1680. (fn. 2) In
the 1660s and 1670s the meeting was held at the
houses of various parishioners, including the miller
William Garton, (fn. 3) but a permanent meeting house
was built in 1676. (fn. 4) Burials were recorded at Ifield
from 1659, (fn. 5) and later there was a burial ground
attached to the meeting house. (fn. 6) Quaker parishioners
were committed for non-payment of tithes in 1660
and later, (fn. 7) and Henry Halliwell, vicar 1667-79,
wrote against the sect. (fn. 8) Early local sympathy for the
Quakers, however, is indicated by the fact that when
in 1658 Thomas Patching created a disturbance in
the church by standing on a pew to address the
congregation after Sunday service, neither the
churchwarden nor the tithingman would arrest
him. (fn. 9) The area from which members of the meeting
were drawn in the later 17th century stretched from
Horley (Surr.) in the north to Thakeham and Bolney
in the south, and from Wisborough Green in the
west to East Grinstead in the east. (fn. 10) A women's
monthly meeting was ordered to be held from 1675
on the same day and at the same place as the men's. (fn. 11)
In 1676 more than a quarter of adults in the parish
were said to be dissenters, most of them probably
Quakers. (fn. 12)

The meeting has existed apparently continuously
since the later 17th century. (fn. 13) In 1724 there were
seven Quaker families in the parish, besides one in
Crawley. (fn. 14) The Horsham monthly meeting was held
at Ifield in the 1770s. (fn. 15) In 1837 the congregation was
said to comprise nearly 100 men, (fn. 16) but on Census
Sunday 1851 only 16 people attended morning service. (fn. 17) Under the patronage of Mrs. Sarah Robinson
(d. 1875) of the Manor House, Crawley, the Quakers
were prominent in the life of Crawley town; by 1887
they had a reading room and library and were holding mission meetings there. (fn. 18)

The Quaker meeting house at Ifield of 1676, one
of the earliest surviving purpose-built meeting
houses, is of sandstone ashlar with a roof of Horsham
slates. The main front has two bays, each with a wide
half-hipped gable; the doorway has rusticated
quoins. The pine panelling and benches in the main
room are 18th-century. (fn. 19) In 1851 the building could
seat 162. (fn. 20) Additions were made in the 20th century.

The Quaker meeting house in Ifield parish of
which a room was used by Unitarians in 1829 was
apparently another building, perhaps in Crawley
village. (fn. 21)

A house was registered for the worship of Presbyterians in 1711, (fn. 22) and in 1724 there were four
Presbyterian families. (fn. 23)

A branch of the Horsham General Baptist church
existed in the parish in the early 18th century. A
meeting house was registered in 1713, (fn. 24) and there
were two Baptist families in 1724. (fn. 25) The congregation
afterwards lapsed, until in 1883 one of C. H.
Spurgeon's students was invited by 60 inhabitants
of Crawley town to be the minister of a newly formed
church. (fn. 26) The chapel built in Station Road, Crawley,
in Ifield parish was of red brick with stone dressings; (fn. 27) it was enlarged three times in the next 15
years. (fn. 28) In 1895 and later there was a resident
minister. (fn. 29) The building was damaged by bombing
c. 1944 and afterwards demolished; (fn. 30) a new church
in Crabtree Road, West Green, was opened in
1954, (fn. 31) and flourished in 1985.

The Bethel chapel of Particular Baptists in the
modern Robinson Road was built in 1858; in 1922
it could seat c. 80 and had a burial ground attached. (fn. 32)
The chapel closed in 1969, but was reopened in 1971
by members of Cuckfield Strict Baptist church; the
congregation was reconstituted as Crawley Reformed Baptist church in 1975 and survived in
1985. (fn. 33)

A building was registered in Ifield parish for worship of Independents in 1835; (fn. 34) its site is unknown,
but was in Crawley village. On Census Sunday 1851
congregations were 42 in the morning and 45 in the
afternoon, (fn. 35) but in 1856, when there was no resident
minister, attendance was thin. (fn. 36) A new church called
Trinity Congregational church, of red brick with
stone dressings in Gothic style, was built in 1863 in
the modern Robinson Road; (fn. 37) in 1922 it could
accommodate c. 260. (fn. 38) In 1875 the congregation was
said to have increased, and to consist chiefly of
tradespeople of the town. (fn. 39) The building was demolished c. 1962, (fn. 40) a new church being opened in 1963
in Ifield Drive. The congregation later joined the
United Reformed church, (fn. 41) and flourished in 1985.

The Salvation Army opened fire in 1902 from
barracks in Spencers Road, West Green, (fn. 42) which
survived in 1985. Gospel Hall, also in Spencers
Road, for meetings of Brethren, existed by 1916. (fn. 43)